The present invention relates to drawer slides, and more particularly to self-closing drawer slides.
A variety of self-closing drawer slides have been developed to slidably support a drawer box within a cabinet. A drawer box mounted on a self-closing slide is preferably drawn by gravity into the cabinet when released.
Types of self-closing slides include "straight incline" and "bent channel". The straight incline type of slide includes straight cabinet and drawer channels mounted on the cabinet and drawer box, respectively, at a common angle inclined from the horizontal. In the bent channel type of slide, the cabinet channel and drawer channel are both bent partway along their lengths to each include a horizontal portion and an inclined portion.
The closing characteristics of a self-closing slide are affected by a plurality of parameters including the inclination of the channels, the drawer weight, and the location of the drawer weight within the drawer box. If the inclination of the channels is too steep, (1) the drawer closes too quickly, slamming within the cabinet, and (2) the drawer requires excessive vertical clearance within the cabinet opening. If the channel inclination is too shallow, the drawer will not return into the cabinet when released. Therefore, the angle at which the channels are mounted on the cabinet and drawer is important to the proper operation of the slide.
Installation of known self-closing slides is relatively time consuming and subject to error. First, mounting the cabinet and drawer rails at a common angle is relatively difficult because the two rails are mounted on different objects and are not readily compared visually. If the angles are not the same, the drawer will not be supported horizontally within the cabinet opening and will have an unacceptable appearance and/or operation. Second, measuring the proper distance at which one end of the rail is to be elevated above the other also is relatively difficult, subject to error, and requires measuring devices. Because of the calculations and measurements normally required, installation of the channels is at least occasionally incorrect requiring remounting or resulting in improper operation.
At least two prior artisans have attempted to alleviate the problems associated with properly mounting a drawer slide at a desired angular orientation. One such construction includes a horizontal slot in the side of the drawer box and a channel mounted thereon including a plurality of indexing tabs extending into the slot. An example of this construction is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,814, entitled DRAWER SLIDE ASSEMBLY FOR SELF-CLOSING DRAWER, issued Aug. 10, 1976, to Entrikin. However, this construction is relatively complicated, being both time-consuming and labor intensive to manufacture. Second, this construction does not provide any structure for properly orienting the cabinet portion of the slide assembly.
A second construction includes an indexing tab extending downwardly from the forward end of the cabinet rail. The channel is properly oriented by positioning the rear channel end and the bottom edge of the indexing tab on a common horizontal line. An example of this construction is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,247, entitled SELF-CLOSING DRAWER SLIDE, issued Mar. 29, 1966, to Knape. However, this construction requires additional manufacturing steps to form the indexing tab. Additionally, different height indexing tabs are required for different length channels having different bend points. Third, the indexing tab can catch on objects (if improperly handled), most notably the forward portion of the cabinet and cause undesirable marking of the cabinet face.